Dr. Ehrman in several places in Jesus Interrupted makes a big point of the Galilean disciples of Jesus being illiterate, or presumed to be illiterate. I don’t think though that he deals specifically with Jesus and the passage in Luke 4 where Jesus stands in the Nazareth synagogue and reads from the Isaiah scroll. Jesus knew how to read. How was he trained to read, when he also comes from this poor region of Israel, Galilee? Dr. Ehrman does not deal with the issue because he has no answer for why Jesus can read.
Whether the disciples read or write is not the issue that Dr. Ehrman makes it out to be in Jesus Interrupted. What is interesting about this time in history are these facts: 1. Rome ruled and so there was peace during this time in Israel. 2. Rome had previously conquered Greece and Greek had become the dominant language of the Roman Empire. 3. The literacy in the Roman Empire was very high and thus when the Gospels and Net Testament letters were written and copied a few years later, many people under Rome’s domain could read them. This makes the era and ideal time for the Messiah to come and for His Message to be communicated.
I am sorry that Dr. Ehrman can not see this. As historian he would be served by a broad survey 1st century history. Researching Greek words in the New Testament or extra-New Testament literature may never get him to where he needs to be.
These is a message in the Bible that speaks to the heart of a man or woman and meets intimate, personal needs of the person who is open to that message. I know no greater works on love or joy or peace or contentment. There is also a great felt need on the part of many people to be relieved of the oppression of sin in wickedness found in their hearts. Many people long to escape the oppression of sins of the heart and the sins from other’s hearts. The message and the language of the Bible work in these areas of need of the human heart. Jesus meets the deepest needs of the heart of love, acceptance and forgiveness among many others.
Henri J.M. Nouwen points out what HEART language is all about:
In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous need for men an women who know the heart of God, a heart that forgives, that cares, that reaches out and want to heal. In that heart there is no suspicion, no vindictiveness, no resentment, and not a tinge of hatred. It is a heart that wants only to give love and receive love in response. It is a heart that suffers immensely because it sees the magnitude of human pain and the great resistance to trusting the heart of God who wants to offer consolation and hope.
Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (New York: Crossroads, 1989), 24.
Banish the thought that someone missed to message because they stumbled on the grammar or misspellings they find in the Greek manuscript copies. I hope the Dr. Ehrman can get past this in his personal life.
I’ve been reviewing the reviews of Bart Ehrman’s books, mostly Misquoting Jesus. The reviews are good. He is out with another edition — more of the same in, Jesus Interrupted.
Ehrman is capitalizing on the coming out of atheists in a day when people are groping for justification of their selfishness and thinking regarding the future and eternity. Many people just don’t want to think about concepts beyond their own personal interests and so Ehrman and others like him are the excuses to conclude: ”Okay, I go about my business as I see fit because those words from the Bible or other literature considered sacred, are not sacred nor accurately transmitted.”
What I have found from the reviews has bolstered my initial take on Bart Ehrman. Ehrman has discovered nothing new. What he thought he discovered has been know for over 100 years and has been adequately analyzed by many text critics of the past.
So, from my view, Ehrman’s analysis does not change the New Testament, make it less palatable, challenge it’s authenticity, nor decrease it’s significance and relevance to life in the 20th century.
A new thought I have is that with the discipline of textual criticism, introduced to the public by Ehrman’s books, critics determine what happened to certain parts of the Greek over time. The developement of this discipline points to the fact that through the criticism process, we can get back to the original Greek words and be confident that we have the original Greek words of the authors. Contrary to what Ehrman infers but does not demonstrate conclusively, none of the variants he describes affect our view of Jesus, core doctrines about Him and His teachings.
Yes, we Christians, need to wrestle with infallibility and inerrancy. I believe our struggle will bring us to better understand the scriptures and the person they describe.
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Sorry, these polls have different styles–I am learning how to insert polls.
The lens allowing us to see into the deep things of God is His Word. People ridicule the Word of God and they ridiculed the living Word of God while He was physically here on earth. We know Him through His Word and all of it is HIS WORD. Let’s honor Him as we honor His Word. May it produce fruit in your life as you feast upon Him through His Word.
As with any topic here we are open to your comments below. Comment away!!
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